“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci Amboise is a town in central France’s Loire Valley. It’s known for the Château d’Amboise, the grand 15th-century residence of King Charles VIII featuring Leonardo da Vinci’s tomb, as well as royal chambers, gardens and underground passageways, old towns, villages and views of the river. Here…
Tag: Travels
Bordeaux
From Bilbao we were off to Bordeaux. Bordeaux is a small port city in southwest France. It is not the cheapest city but it is still worth to visit, as it is said to be France’s most elegant city. This was the view when our coach was just approaching this glamorous city in France. For…
Bilbao and its Public Art
“The ‘EARTH’ without ‘ART’ is just ‘EH’ – unknown Aside from this beautiful building, the centre of Bilbao is full of amazing public art. And this is what I want to feature this week for Photographing Public Art Challenge – PPAC. Here are the many architecture, sculptures, statues and murals of Bilbao, Spain. Bilbao is…
Burgos
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta As we continued on with out European tour, we arrived in Burgos, which is a town in northern Spain and is about three and a half hour drive from Toledo. The first that we saw upon arriving was this… isn’t…
Public Art in toledo
“I do not insist,” answered Don Quixote, “that this is a full adventure, but it is the beginning of one, for this is the way adventures begin.” – Miguel de Cervantes This is the third and last of my series about Toledo. That shows how much you can see and do in this old and…
Doors
“A different language is a different vision of life.” – Federico Fellini As part of my series about Toledo, Spain, here are some doors that can be seen around the main town. Toledo is the fabled land of Don Quixote and this is where reality meets fairy tales and legends. That is his statue at…
Toledo in Spain
“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret”– Oscar Wilde Toledo is one of the oldest and most unique cities in Spain and is the former Spanish capital before Madrid. It stands beautifully high up on a hill above the Tagus River and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. From the Mirador del Valle, you…
Madrid
“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – unknown The city of Madrid is a captivating city. Passing through the countryside and even before reaching the main country, we already had a glimpse of how artistic this country was gonna be by seeing all…
Windows of Madrid
Madrid is an exquisite city and can be seen in its grand buildings and of course in its windows, which is the topic of this challenge. The Palacio de Cibeles, formerly the Palacio de Comunicaciones until 2011, is a palace located on the Plaza de Cibeles. What an amazing architecture. El Palacio Real or Madrid’s…
Barcelona’s Public Art
“Barcelona is Gaudí’s” –Kamand Kojouri Our second day in Barcelona started with a city tour. The local tour guide took us to the different iconic architecture which were mostly the Catalan Gothic style and the Modernisme. This second one was a cultural movement at the end of the 19th century protagonized by Antoni Gaudi. One…
Montserrat
“The mountains are calling , and I must go.” – John Muir Montserrat is a mountain range in Catalonia, Spain and it is just a day trip away from the more energetic and vibrant nearby metropolis of Barcelona. This is the La Sardana Monument in Barcelona where our tour group met up and is a…
Art in Barcelona
We crossed spacious streets, with building resembling palaces, in La Rambla promenade ; the shops were well illuminated and there was movement and life… I did not decide to go to sleep, even though I wished to, so I could rise early and contemplate, in daylight, this city, unknown to me: Barcelona, capital of Catalonia….
Partly closed Shutters
Like a window had been thrown open inside my head and my heart, where there had been closed shutters before. — Malorie Blackman This is the fourth and last of my series about Carcassonne. This is also for Ludwig’s Monday Windows Challenge. Here we saw quite a number of old houses…some with widely opened windows and…
Main Boulevard – Public Art in Carcassonne
On the La Bastide Saint-Louis or the lower town of Carcassonne, we immediately noticed some artistic treasures. Here are some sculptures scattered around the main boulevard, a testament of modern influence to the city. This Square is known as the Place Gambetta. For Photographing Public Art Challenge Sculpture Saturday and 6WS The Place Gambetta is…
Doors & Seats in the Old Town
“If you like the fairy tales, visit the old towns.” – Mehmet Murat ildan Outside the ancient walled city of Carcassonne, France, hubby and I were surprised at how many beautiful doors we saw in just the main strip of the old town of Carcassonne. For Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge In some hidden corners that…
La Cite de Carcassonne
La Cité in Carcassonne, located in southern France, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the whole country. Millions of visitors come every year to this huge fortified city on a hilltop. From afar, this medieval fort looks like something out of a children’s story book. This castle was decided to be preserved…
Through the Doors of Avignon!
“He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him.” – Dutch proverb ____________________ I am sharing this as part of Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge ____________________ The Palais des Papes or the Palace of the Popes is the most important building built during the Gothic period. I am featuring the…
The Streets and Windows of Avignon
“Still round the corner, there may wait, a new road or a secret gate.” – J.R.R. Tolkien ____________________ I am sharing this as part of Ludwig’s Monday Windows Challenge ____________________ Avignon in France makes a wonderful day trip destination, which really is a combination of the young urban vibe and medieval, old town settings. Today,…
The Palace of the Popes
“It doesn’t matter where you are. You are nowhere compared to where you can go.” – Bob Proctor On our way to Avignon… The walls of Avignon are a series of defensive stone walls that surround the city in the south of France. They were originally built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their…
The Splendour of Monaco
“I avoid looking back. I prefer good memories to regrets.” – Grace Kelly Monaco is one of the world’s smallest country (second only to the Vatican). And so as not to be confused, Monaco is very small but essentially has everything that is expected of a regular country and Monte Carlo is a neighborhood inside…
French Riviera
“Meet me where the sky touches the sea.” – unknown You can call it the South of france… or The French Riviera… or the Cote d’Azur but one thing is for sure, this region of France is amazingly beautiful. Nice is the capital of the French Riviera and the city is called Nice la Belle…
Another day in Florence
“Stand on a bridge over the Arno River several times in a day and the light, mood and view change every time. Firenze is magnetic, romantic and busy. Its urban fabric has hardly changed since the Renaissance and its narrow streets evoke thousand tales.” – Lonely Planet Our first day in Florence was very hectic…
The Streets of Florence
“Florence is one of those cities that most of us want to experience at least once (but most likely hundreds of times)!” – unknown Florence, as foreigners and tourists call this city, is known to locals as Firenze. Previously, it was called Florentia in Latin, then Fiorenza in Old Italian. Here is the Florence skyline from…
Churches in Rome
Some ruins of ancient times are much more beautiful than the best buildings of modern eras! — Mehmet Murat Ildan Rome has around 900 churches so it is really the best place in the world to visit some of these wonderful churches. Aside from the Papal Basilica of St Peter, here is a small church…
Rome on a Rainy Day
“It does not usually rain in Rome, which makes a wet day somewhat of a special occasion.” – unknown While planning on this trip, we didn’t even have a clue that these two iconic Roman buildings, the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, are just standing quite near each other. The first time we found…
Vatican City
“Church is who we are not where we go.” Author unknown Vatican City is the world’s smallest fully independent nation-state. It is home of the Pope and is known for the Sistine Chapel, the St Peter’s Basilica, the St Peter’s Square and the Vatican Museum. We were dropped off by our tour bus outside the…
Rome at Night
“Italy will never be a normal country, because Italy is Italy. If we were a normal country, we wouldn’t have Rome. We wouldn’t have Florence. We wouldn’t have the marvel that is Venice.” – Matteo Renzi, Prime Minister of Italy… __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 Travelling to Rome when it was nearly night time gave it a feeling of…
Assisi
”A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” – Francis of Assisi __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 Travelling from Burano to Assisi, the scenery was simply breathtaking. Glad we were awake the whole time to experience it all. Please click image to enlarge. __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 Assisi is a small town in Central Umbria. It is a UNESCO Heritage…
Colourful Burano
“I am a believer that colors affects people’s moods.” – Lily Pulitzer __________________________________🚞🚎🚗🚃🛫🚠 On the Road from Venice to Burano… Burano is just a day trip away from Venice on a vaporetto. It takes about half an hour travelling time between the two islands. This is what can be seen along the way. Please click…